Search and Rescue.

[grumpy52]

Am I right ,has all RAF,RN SAR now finished ?
Thoughts of other PHers .
Although many employed by Bristow are ex forces ,will elf n seffy be adhered to more now they are in the commercial sector.
If after a few years the contractor decided its not profitable then what ?

[ninja-lewis]

All the RAF flights are now stood down. 771 NAS and Gannet Flight will continue to operate at Culdrose and Prestwick respectively until the end of the year. Bristow will take over at Newquay and Prestwick on 1 January.

Edited by ninja-lewis on Sunday 4th October 21:33

[Simpo Two]

Who pays the contractors? Or will they ultimately claim from the people they rescue?

[ninja-lewis]

Simpo Two said:

Who pays the contractors? Or will they ultimately claim from the people they rescue?

Department for Transport. £1.6 billion over 10 years.

Similar arrangement to the provision of HM Coastguard helicopters over the past 40 years. Main difference between the existing Coastguard helicopters (currently on interim contracts at Stornoway, Sumburgh, Lee-on-Solent and Portland) and the new contract is the CAA now permit the use of Night Vision and the AW189 will be a bit larger than the AW139 currently used.

[DuraAce]

ninja-lewis said:

All the RAF flights are now stood down. 771 NAS and Gannet Flight will continue to operate at Culdrose and Prestwick respectively until the end of the year. Bristow will take over at Newquay and Prestwick on 1 January.
]

All? Falklands islands still operational until next year I believe.

[ecsrobin]

DuraAce said:

ninja-lewis said:

All the RAF flights are now stood down. 771 NAS and Gannet Flight will continue to operate at Culdrose and Prestwick respectively until the end of the year. Bristow will take over at Newquay and Prestwick on 1 January.
]

All? Falklands islands still operational until next year I believe.

Falklands will be handed over in April 2016 although that is not Bristow running that contract it's AAR Airlift running AW189. You also still have the Griffins in Cyprus of 84 squadron although I believe that has been slowly reducing in size.

[happygoron]

I've never understood this decision. How can a private company run SAR cheaper than the MOD which presumably will have the helicopters and training overheads anyway? I assume the mod will still have SAR capability for the carriers and deployment anyway?

I have no doubt that the private setup will provide a good service, I just don't understand how the numbers work. Though I'm probably over simplifying things.

[ecsrobin]

happygoron said:

I've never understood this decision. How can a private company run SAR cheaper than the MOD which presumably will have the helicopters and training overheads anyway? I assume the mod will still have SAR capability for the carriers and deployment anyway?

I have no doubt that the private setup will provide a good service, I just don't understand how the numbers work. Though I'm probably over simplifying things.

The MOD didn't have the aircraft, the seaking is old and being phased out, replaced by the Merlin (which are all going to the navy) this would mean spending a lot of money on new aircraft, all the training the MOD provides does cost the taxpayer and is not always the cheapest option.

Don't forget for many years civilian SAR helicopters have operated within the UK so it is a tried and tested model.

[kurt535]

The top cover the RAF SAR provided always gave me comfort when on a service. The civvie SAR does indeed have a lot of ex RAF in it but it doesn't have the same capabilities as a military SAR and I do wonder how quick a helo will respond to events, especially those based in the East of England. If memory serves me, they have a base at Humberside that will take a decent 45 - 60 mins to get on scene anywhere around Lowestoft. The Manston option has obviously blown out with its closure. So, moral of the story, don't get into serious offshore problems off the East coast.

[andy97]

ecsrobin said:

happygoron said:

I've never understood this decision. How can a private company run SAR cheaper than the MOD which presumably will have the helicopters and training overheads anyway? I assume the mod will still have SAR capability for the carriers and deployment anyway?

I have no doubt that the private setup will provide a good service, I just don't understand how the numbers work. Though I'm probably over simplifying things.

The MOD didn't have the aircraft, the seaking is old and being phased out, replaced by the Merlin (which are all going to the navy) this would mean spending a lot of money on new aircraft, all the training the MOD provides does cost the taxpayer and is not always the cheapest option.

Don't forget for many years civilian SAR helicopters have operated within the UK so it is a tried and tested model.

And we dont actually have that many Merlins.

Remember that the SAR role was no longer considered to have a military component so the staff required to run the service were effectively additional trained personnel on top of the front line (and training) requirement.

Maybe military staff are more expensive than their civilian counterparts, too? Military aircraft are often more expensive than a civilian aircraft to buy because of all the war fighting requirements built in (the Sea King was originally a Naval ASW design, remember, and the Merlin is an ASW and Commando helicopter with features not required in a purely land based SAR aircraft). And MoD servicing costs per flying hour, including a proportion of the overhead for the Integrated Project Team and Logistic support etc may be more expensive than the civilain world.

[grumpy52]

If you need help in the channel around the Dover area it will come ,and has done for some time , from Belguim or Holland .
Mind you Dover has no A&E hospital the nearest is approx 20miles away but the NHS Trust in this area is in deep trouble , luckily major injuries tend to be taken to Kings hospital in London .